On a Friday Evening
by Elina
Summary: Donna has the flu


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Author: Elina 

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Title: On a Friday evening

Summary: Donna has the flu.

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Author's note: This is the first story I've written. Ever. I decided to go with sweetness this time. This is a very simple, sort of a one-scene story, I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, you know that.

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Josh Lyman was sitting in his office, trying to figure out the files in front of him. It was Friday evening, 8.30 p.m., and he was sick and tired of reading those files over and over again. For some reason he just couldn't put his head together and concentrate. Maybe if Donna was sitting in front of him with her feet up on his table corner, teasing him and boosting him up... But no, she called in sick that morning. Now he had been sitting there for almost three hours with those files and he _still _couldn't find out what was the thing that seemed so wrong in them. He would've needed Donna's help, but she wasn't there. Why every time he found that he really needed her she wasn't there?

Though, she did sound really miserable on the phone. 'Maybe I should check her out later,' Josh thought. 'Maybe I should show up in her apartment with some Chinese food and crappy sob-films, she likes them so much. Maybe it'll cheer her up.' That was a decision made right there. Well, at least that was a better idea than sitting in his office for another three hours with no results what so ever. Besides, that case he was working on wasn't in _that _much hurry it couldn't wait until Monday. So he closed the files and his computer, grabbed his jacket with him and headed out of the door.

***

Thirty minutes later Josh was knocking on Donna's door with some Chinese and films in the other hand. There was no answer so he knocked again, harder. This time he heard some muttering from the inside, then something falling down and then a lot of swearing. A silent grin rose on Josh's face. A couple of minutes later the door opened and he saw Donna's face in the doorway.

When she realized it was Josh (and that took awhile), she groaned: "Oh no, not you... Josh, go away." She tried to close the door, but Josh was quicker and pushed the door open. 

"Don't sound so happy, Donna! I'm here to cheer you up, and it's impossible if you're already so cheerful." With a disarming smile on his face he lifted his hand and showed the Chinese and the films: "I brought you presents." 

She looked at him for awhile, and then at the Chinese, and gave in. "My VCR's broken," she muttered and dragged herself in to the living room. She sneezed and sat on the sofa. Josh had to admit that, even with her hair looking like chaos and her eyes and nose all red, she looked kinda cute in her oversized pajamas. He kicked the door closed behind him and followed her to the living room. 

"Have you eaten anything?" he asked and sat next to her. 

"Well.... yes, I ate...something," she replied and sneezed again.

"What?"

She thought of it for awhile and then looked a bit embarrassed: "... A banana."

Josh grinned at her. "Well, in that case, I have some eel in here and some sweet-and-sour chicken, which one do you want?"

"The eel."

"Yeah, I thought you would," he said and handed it to her. She opened the box and started eating. After the first bite she looked like she was going to choke, and then she started to cough. "God, this is spicy!"

Josh smiled at her: "Well, if you don't like it, we can swap...."

"No! No, no, no, I like it this way... You just could've warned, that's all."

Josh's smile became even wider. He laid back in the corner of the sofa and kicked of his shoes. He looked at her profile while she was eating, she still looked cute, he noticed. They ate in comfortable silence, only interrupted by her sneezing. 

After the dinner, Josh noticed a book on the table and picked it up. James Herbert. 

"What? Is this some dirty book?"

Finally. A smile. 

"No, it isn't," Donna said with a grin on her face. "It's just something about...um...something."

"Damn, I was starting to look forward to it," he said. "Is it any good?"

"I wouldn't know, I haven't read it."

He sat back in the sofa and studied the books back cover.

"You know, when I was a kid and I was sick, my mum used to bring me hot cocoa and read me stories. That was nice."

"Well," she sneezed again, "my mum isn't here and I don't have any cocoa."

"Yeah, but Uncle-Josh can read you a story," Josh grinned. And she smiled back. Josh opened the first page and started reading. And, as it was a completely natural thing to do, Donna cuddled up under his arm and he pressed his cheek against her head. After four chapters, and many stupid jokes about the book, he looked down at her and found her asleep. With her body against his side, he could feel her heartbeats and her slow breathing. She looked so peaceful, and he couldn't help the thought that he wouldn't mind this more often. And, with that thought, he closed his eyes and fell asleep with his arm around her and hers around him.

THE END


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